The Final Lesson
by Shibalyfe
Summary: Luna learns to stand up for herself. This was written for The Houses Competition: Y3R8.


House: Gryffindor

Position: Prefect

Category: Bonus #2

Prompt 1: Underdog

Prompt 2: Amaranth

Prompt 3: Shoelaces

Word Count: 2440

A/N: This is an AU. This was written for The Houses Competition: Y3R8.

The Final Lesson

"Luna, that is an interesting piece of… jewelry," Hermione said.

Luna's hand flew to her neck and she started fingering the shoelace tied around it. She smiled wistfully at Hermione. "Thank you, it was my mother's."

"That was your mother's?" Hermione's voice rose.

"Well, of course." Luna pulled on the purple string. "This was from a pair of my mother's favorite shoes and this," she pulled a large pendant out from under her shirt, "Amaranth gem reminds me of her aura. She was such a warm and caring person. A nice mix of red and pink, feminine and determined." Luna stared wistfully out the window.

"Isn't that just a fake dark pink gem?" Ron whispered in Hermione's ear.

She elbowed him and gave Luna a forced smile. "Well that certainly is a lovely piece of jewelry then."

"Jewelry? Hahaha," Pansy snorted. "I have seen street dogs whose necks were adorned better than yours. I guess it is true, you are what you wear, trash."

The group of Slytherins behind her all broke out into a loud laugh.

Hermione shot Pansy a death glare and pulled Luna away from the group of vipers.

"Luna, are you okay?" Ginny asked, rubbing her arm. She shared a worried look with Neville across from her.

Luna shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well… Pansy is much more brutal than you," Neville answered. "We don't want you to get hurt."

Luna shrugged. "I don't care what she says anyway."

Luna smiled at each of them, gave a quick wave, and then skipped off to her next class, leaving the group of Gryffindors baffled at her nonchalance.

* * *

Luna was walking through the hallways staring at the ceiling, thinking about the Nargles that were starting to live in the doorways of The Great Hall, when something slammed into her shoulders. Her eyes flicked to the person in front of her. She gave an apologetic nod and continued down the hallway until she felt a hand grip her arm and throw her towards the wall.

"Watch where you are going!" Pansy leered at her. "No one wants to get any of your crazy cooties."

A group of girls laughed and Pansy seemed to grow bolder with their approval. She peered into Luna's face and snarled at her.

"Are you still wearing that trash around your neck?" She yanked the pink gem from around Luna's neck and held it up for the other girls. "You said this reminded you of your mother? That makes sense since it is cheap and worthless, just like her!"

Luna grabbed for the necklace but Pansy kept dangling it out of her reach and the gaggle of girls all laughed at her.

"Be careful with that. Can I have it back, please?" Luna asked calmly.

"No, I don't think I will give it back. It hurts my eyes looking at that atrocity around your neck every day. It's cheap, fake, and dirty. What lunatic wears used shoe laces around their neck? I think I will hang on to it, maybe put it where it belongs, like in the garbage, or in a fire, anywhere where I don't have to look at it any longer!" Pansy pushed her back against the wall again.

Luna felt the hard smack of her head against the hard wall and a dull thud began to pound in her ears. She heard a commotion but couldn't see where it came from, her vision was blurry. She wasn't sure what was happening until Harry was standing in front of her with his wand raised.

"Give it back, Pansy!"

Pansy just snickered. "Oh look, the great Harry Potter to save the day!" She looked over her shoulders and grinned at the group of girls behind her back. Her smile suddenly fell as she looked back at Harry. "Harry, please put your wand away, you know that isn't allowed on school grounds!"

Harry's face scrunched in confusion and he lowered his wand.

"Mister Harry Potter, what do you think you are doing? You just think you can do whatever you want because you are _The Chosen One_. Fifty points from Gryffindor and detention for the next two weeks!" Snape snapped at him, "and don't think that The Headmaster will be able to save you from this one!

Pansy smirked at Harry and turned to Snape and looked up at him through her eyelashes. "I tried to tell him, Professor. He just wouldn't listen!" she said in a sickly-sweet voice.

Snape nodded at her and told her to get to her next class; he would deal with it. She walked down the hall and turned before she made it to the corner, catching Harry and Luan's eyes she smirked and let the shoelace fall from her outstretched hand and let the gem dangle. It sparkled in the candlelight, letting off prisms of pinks. She saw Luna's eyes follow the sway of the shoelace and watched Harry's eyes narrow before she slipped around the corner.

* * *

Harry was pacing in front of Luna, his hands flying through the air, punctuating every word he said with an exaggerated gesture.

"You have to stand up to her, Luna, demand that she gives it back to you! If you don't, I will!"

"I wouldn't stand a chance," Luna said truthfully. "I don't know how to duel."

"Well let me do it for you then," Harry interjected eagerly.

Ron nodded in agreement. "You might not stand a chance, Luna, but Harry certainly does."

Luna sighed heavily. "You really think I have to fight her to get my necklace back?"

Harry nodded somberly at her and Luna sank into the chair. "Okay, Harry, I trust your judgement. It's my necklace. I will duel her if she won't give it back."

* * *

For the first time in Luna's life, she was looking for a specific person. She normally liked to wander around and let fate work its magic. If she was meant to find someone or be a part of someone's life, then she would be. That was what her mother always said, the people who were supposed to be a part of your life would be; sometimes they were only there to teach you a certain lesson and would only pass through, but the people that were meant to be there always would be at the right time and at the right place.

That's what helped her with her mother's death, knowing that she was only meant to have been in her life for that long. She believed that her mother had already taught her what she was supposed to, but her mother was the reason she was looking for Pany to begin with. Her necklace made of shoelaces and that amaranth gem was all she had left of her mother. After her death, her father had packed away everything of her mother's and never talked about her again. She knew her father often went into the attic to stare at her mother's things and relive memories of their life together, especially when he had been drinking, but he never spoke to Luna about it. She had snuck in and taken what she could, little items that her father wouldn't notice missing, the shoelaces from her favorite shoes and a gem from an ornament that she had bought to keep the Blibbering Humdingers at bay. She had worn it under her robes every day since she had smuggled them from the attic. Harry was right; she needed to get it back.

She walked into the courtyard where she knew the Slytherin girls liked to hang out and gossip or talk about boys. She walked over the group of cackling hyenas and tapped gently on Pansy's shoulder.

Her dark hair flew through the air as she snapped her head around to face Luna. Her eyes narrowed and she gave her a menacing look.

Luna took a deep breath. "Can I please have my necklace back?"

Pansy rolled her eyes. "You can't be serious. You are still going on about that stupid necklace?"

"Yes, I am. It was my mother's and I would like it back now please."

Pansy smirked. "Why don't you come and take it from me?"

"Okay," Luna said quietly, "I will."

The smirk dropped from Pansy's face and she stood to face Luna.

"You think you stand a chance at beating me in a duel?" Pansy sneered, shoving her back hard.

Luna fell to the ground. "I need my necklace back."

"Fine, meet me out here at midnight and be prepared to be in pain." Pansy walked towards her and stomped on her hand. She dug her heels in and smashed her hand further in the mud. "Be prepared to never see that necklace again."

She sauntered off, the group of girls following her lead and stomping on her fingers as they walked past her.

Luna stared after them and braced her hand against her chest. She was going to lose and never see her mother's necklace again, but she knew she had to at least try.

* * *

The news about the duel quickly spread throughout the school and while many wished her good luck, she knew that they didn't think she would be able to beat Pansy. She didn't even think that she would be able to beat her, but she had to try, for her mother.

She heard the whispers follow her everywhere she went.

"She won't be able to win."

"Do you think she even knows how to cast a harmful spell?"

"Pany is going to crush her. I don't even know if I want to go and watch. It's going to be so embarrassing."

She tried to ignore their hurtful words and instead focused on Harry's words of advice. Every spell she knew bounced around her head, escaping her grasp. She couldn't focus on one spell; they all seemed to slip through her mind like water. She had no idea what she was going to do in the duel. She was more worried that she wouldn't be able to do anything. That she would just stand there with her wand in the air, spell-less, just an easy target for Pansy's attack.

When the time came for the duel, she felt like she was walking to her own death sentence. She wanted to turn around numerous times but knew that this is what she was supposed to do; she felt it in her bones that this was what her mother would have wanted. This was the final lesson her mother would ever give her.

She heard her footsteps bounce off the cement floors. She could feel the wind cool her skin as she drew closer to the courtyard. Luna was surprised to see the courtyard filled with students. Students were taking bets and laughing at the possible outcomes; most scenarios ended up with her in the hospital wing.

Pansy turned to face Luna and the space began to clear. Classmates began to back up against the wall and quiet down. Her friends wished her luck as they went to stand behind her. Harry asked her one more time if she was sure that she didn't want him to take her place but she told him no. This was something she knew she had to do, she could just feel it.

She turned to face Pansy and could feel her heart begin to flutter. She had never been a violent person. She believed that there was good inside everyone and that violence was not the answer. She had tried to think of different ways to get her necklace back but knew that this was the only way Pansy would return it. Pansy was a dark, evil soul. Luna could sense it in her aura: green, a dark green, almost black. It was filled with jealousy, rage, and violence. She knew that this was the only way thing that Pansy would understand. Violence and fighting.

So, Luna found herself staring into the dark brown eyes of her opponent, wishing there was another way. Pansy's eyes were filled with hate and her wand was already pointed towards Luna. Luna gulped and plucked her wand from behind her ear. She assumed the first position of the duel and counted down along with the moderator, Lee Jordan, in her head.

One.

She didn't think, she just let her body take control. She drew back her hand and flicked her wand towards Pansy. Her mouth muttered a spell her mother had taught her and pink sparks flew from her wand. As the sparks began to spread, it was like she could feel her mother's aura engulf her, the same deep pink color as the sparks that flew from her wand, and protect her. She watched as the sparks began to grow and grow, forming a solid wall of protection in front of her.

Pansy's spell bounced off the wall and ricocheted back to her, throwing her off balance and backwards across the ground. Her knees were bloody and her nose was bleeding. She looked like she had just been in a fist fight. Luna thought that Pansy's eyes were blackened but she didn't feel sorry for her. It was her own violent spell that had hit her; maybe the taste of her own brutality would cause her to change her ways and become less violent, less hateful.

She grinned as she heard the shouts of triumph and shock from her classmates. She slowly walked towards Pansy and held out a hand.

"My necklace, please."

Pansy grabbed at her pockets and held the necklace out to her with a trembling hand. Luna grabbed the necklace and quickly tied the shoelace around her neck. She felt whole again. She offered her hand out to Pansy again to help her up but it was slapped away.

"Don't touch me, you lunatic!" Pansy screeched and quickly scurried away from her and away from the courtyard, like a dog with her tail between her legs.

"Luna that was amazing!" Hermione said, running towards her. "What was that spell? I have never heard it before or seen one like it!"

"It was my mother's; she invented it to keep the Wrackspurts out. It's quite powerful."

"I noticed," Hermione said and gave her a large smile. "Who would have thought that you had it in you to defeat Pansy!"

"My mother did," Luna answered. "She always knew."

And suddenly Luna knew the last lesson her mother was trying to teach her was to stick up for herself and believe in herself.

Luna smiled and glanced up at the stars, silent tears falling from her eyes. "Thank you, Mother!"


End file.
